Days 10-15 - Clermont, FL Saturday Notes

Elite Resorts at Citrus Valley 1/28/2015-2/2/2015
16246 Citrus Parkway
Clermont, FL 34714

Saturday Notes:

Last night's Dinner/Dance was very nice.  We (K&R, V&G, and I) sat a table with R&K's friends that I met back up in Croton's RV site this past summer when Ray & Kathy hosted their RV's group/rally: Mike & Chris, Tony & Doreen.  Dinner consisted of BBQ boneless, skinless chicken breast, gravy (not soup, Ray) mashed potatoes, corn, salad, and desert--all for $12.50.  They did a good job and the meal delicious.  You brought your own place setting and drinks.  Most folks left by 9 pm, I got home around 10:00.

Left: Kathy, Tony, & Mike
Right: Vicki, Doreen, Chris

Chrissy & Doreen

  

Kathy, Tony, Mike

Cheers from ACR

   

My first impressions of this resort community, as with Hilton Head's RV Resort, brought home the fact that a great number of people are into this life style.  I know it sounds like a given but you don't realize to what extent until you "walk among them."  Either full-timers who have sold their homes or those who have both and use home as home base for the 'off-season', this resort is filled with H-U-G-E rigs.  I don't even want to think abot the money invested in these "homes."

This is just the cab; the fifth wheel it pulls
behind is 40 feet long

Here's a 360° glance around my site.

And, for the first time, I saw Winnie's older brother; a 2013 View pass by my site.

Silver & Black

Just about visible in this shot are solar panels
which appear as silver plates on the roof.
The owner had a friend install them and change the
battery hookup system such that he can now run
all appliances using solar power. 

Owner had another friend build a hitch that
allows him to extend the bike rack outward to
the rear rather than having to unload bikes
in order to allow rear slide to be extended...

...he says "for a couple of hundred dollars."
Nice to have friends like that, eh?

Tonight's adventure and subject of tomorrow's blog will be a visit to Ari Sushi located about 25 minutes into Celebration, FL. Photos & comments tomorrow.

Days 10-15 - Clermont, FL Thu/Fri

Elite Resorts at Citrus Valley 1/28/2015-2/2/2015
16246 Citrus Parkway
Clermont, FL 34714

Thursday & Friday notes:

192 circled above

New owners, Mr. & Mrs. Smith

Large, clean pads with all hookups

The hour and a half  drive from Port Orange, FL, was easy and pleasant.  A straight run across I-4 to and through Orlando.  I'm familiar with this area as a result of spending the month of April in Daytona Beach Shores. Trips to Orlando during these seven years included three trips to Orlando's airport to pickup my son Chuck and family, Marybeth, the girls and friends as well as trips to Disney's World of Sports to join friends, Bill and Diane to watch their children,  John, Mark, and Theresa play ball, each in their turn.  Good memories while watching them grow into young adults they've become.  My first blog,  Charlie's Travels, written in 2008, is still available should you care to see the sites and my "early" (recorded) travel experiences.  Geeze, looking at the number....that's like 7 years ago.  "My, how time flies when you're having fun."

The RV park that I'm settled in right now (#192 circled on site map) is different than what I'm used to up north.  Like Hilton

Neighbors & owners, Ray & Kathy

Head's RV Resort and Marina, many of the sites are owned by those presently set up there.  I'm a "renter."  There's a Homeowner's Association, Rules & Regs (that go beyond those in any regular campground.) just like any other condo complex.  I, therefore, would not call this a "campground."  It's an RV Resort community and for the 55+.  Sites have all you need (water, sewer, cable, electricity) for full time living. AND dogs.  Dogs, dogs, and more dogs.  E-v-e-r-y site (except George & Vicki) have at least one dog. As I observe the walkers-by, it seems the dog takes over the daily routine of every owner.  Granted, walking a dog is at the top of the list of good health habits for the owner and, as usual, the bigger the owner, the smaller the dog.  And, today's observations really took the cake:  a couple walked by with two dogs.  
The wife had one on the leash, the husband was pushing a small stroller with the dog sitting up like a king looking around the kingdom.  A first for me.  The story is that the dog has diabetes and if it had to walk for any distance, it blood sugar would drop and it would sit, not walk and that was that.  So, the stroller serves a medical use.  Just hope Medicare didn't pay for it. 

Today's weather was the best I've experienced since I left home 1/19th.  The temperature reached only 70° but the sun was very bright in a cloudless sky.  I was finally able to put out a lounge chair, read my book and proceed to get a bit of a burn on my forehead and face.  Right now, (Thursday), Vicki & George will be driving by to pick me up so we can meet Ray and Kathy at  Hurricane Wings & Grille for dinner.

Weather-wise, today was the first day I was able to pull out my lounge and read a couple of chapters outdoors.  Sunny in a cloudless sky with temps touching 70°.  Vicki stopped by to give me facial sun block for my red forehead and nose.  So comforting knowing I was where I wanted to be doing what I want to do.  As I write this blog, there's 23 more days, 17 hours, 15 minutes left in this adventure.  Up north?  Well, as I write this Thursday night, the NY forecast reads:

Low pressure will track south of Long Island Sunday night and Monday.  Although the exact track and timing of the system are still uncertain....there is the potential for 6 inches or more of snow across the entire Tri-state area.

The next most popular item in this land of (fill in your own word) are the hundreds of Mickey Mouse lawn lights.  You thought it would be pink flamingos? 

Every third or fourth house
has one OR MORE of them; solid
and multi-colored, solitary or
Mickey's family: large, medium,
and small.

                  

Even here in the RV park,
the street lights have
Mickey globes.  We are 16 minutes
from Disney World.

                            

Tonight (Friday) they're taking me to a dinner/dance.  Happy hour begins at 4:30 pm, dinner at 5:00, and band begins at 6:00.  Can't wait to see what time this breaks up.  My bet is somewhere around bedtime.....8:00-8:30pm.  More tomorrow night.

Days 8-9 - Port Orange, FL

Nova Campground 1/26/2015 - 1/27/2015
1190 Herbert Street
Port Orange, FL 32129

My site 18B is circled above

Greetings from chilly Port Orange, FL.  Mid 40's to mid 50's so far, the same as Hilton Head, SC.  The six hour trip was different this time.  I did lose an hour seeking to remedy a problem I was having with my Cummins-Onan generator.  That saga is worthy of a blog post unto itself but I don't feel like re-hashing it all.  The bottom line of the saga is that the generator would crank but not kick in and run on its own during the entire time I was in Hilton Head.  When I set up here in Nova and, out of curiosity, tried to start it, it worked.  Did you ever curse for happiness?  It wasn't your normal, "Well, I'll be damned."

As mentioned, the ride down was different.  Traffic was again very light, the day perfect for driving. BUT the winds!!!!  Blustery all the way; so much so that I had some gusty moments when I felt like an airline pilot landing with cross currents in windy conditions and had all to do with keeping the plane level, or, in my case, staying in my own lane.   I am, after all, a "high profile vehicle" now and was warned.

The campground is huge as you can see from the site map above.  My corner area is sparsely populated and there are a lot of sites that look "residential", ie, here permanently.  Across from me, from morning till night fall, there were 4 "good ol' boys" just standing around talking all-day-long.  No drinking beer, not loud, just standing around chatting.  I found that interesting.  Guess it was "boys week out".  Interesting.

Well shaded areas throughout

Area campsites near me

    

Just love the Spanish
moss so prevalent
in the South.

   

The highlight of this stop was once again seeing my special and long time friend, Mya.  She and Patsy own Luigi's Pizzeria   on S. Clyde Morris here in Port Orange.  I will visit there for my usual slice along with a chilled mug of Peroni beer and perhaps a dinner to go for the future.  That turned out to be a small pizza, breaded eggplant with two containers of tomato sauce, a loaf of just baked Italian bread and one container of pasta with vegetable soup.  Yes, you're correct: where am I going to put it all.  Believe it or not, I did it.  It all fit into my frig and the pizza slices and bread into my freezer.   Thank you, again, my friends.  Something nice to remember you by in the future.  I've always been treated like family here as well.

By far, the best pizza I've tasted
in Florida.  This one's for you
Maureen

Welcome, Mya, to my Hall of Fame

Here's to your
health and well
being

Checkout time tomorrow is 11:00 am and the ride to Clermont, FL and Elite Campground only an hour and a half.  A leisurely day for sure.  Good night and see you in Clermont, FL.

Days 5-7 - Hilton Head Island, SC

Hilton Head Harbor RV Resort 1/23/2015 - 1/25/2015
43 Jenkins Road
Hilton Head Island, SC 29926

I left a brief but beautiful sunrise in North Carolina Thursday morning at 8:15 am (sunrise was 7:18 am).  The drive south was uneventful and from Holly Ridge, NC, it was just shy of 6 hours.  Rain began about 10 am and the drizzle continues.  Traffic was light but with my music the time went quickly.  I stopped once in Florence, SC to tank up.  Diesel was $2.84/gal. and Winnie is still maintaining 15 miles to the gallon which pleases me to no end.

The brief sunrise this morning, before getting on the road in NC.
Once it rose into that cloud cover, I didn't see it for the rest of the day.

Friday Arrival:

I was given a golf cart to visit the sites I'd like and, if 
unoccupied, was mine for the weekend.
My choice was site #114, circled above, a corner site.

  

All sites are on concrete pads; wide and long.  They're
well maintained, landscaped, clean, and pleasing to the eye.

Winnie backed into the
site very easily and hooked
up in no time.

An empty site across the street from me

Some of the big boys.......

Big Fifth Wheels

Saturday:

I enjoyed the relaxing, steady pitter-patter of rain on the roof last night; even had an occasional gust of wind rock me to sleep.  As I write this section of the blog at 8:45 am Saturday, it's clearing nicely but still breezy with the temperature at 52°.  Time for breakfast.

Out of curiosity, I checked to see who "visits" my blog.  Found:

Entry	Pageviews
United States	1658
France	114
Turkey	39
Poland	20
Romania	15
Germany	9
Russia	5
United Kingdom	2
Italy	2
Austria	1

Only the two from Italy can be explained (maybe).  The rest?  Hello, how are you?  (How?  Why?)

Saturday evening topped off my stay here at Hilton Head Island.  Friends, Roger & Wendy, who live in Sun City, Bluffton, SC, picked me up and treated me to a great Italian dinner at  Mulberry Street Trattoria just off the island.  We three are retirees from the Hen Hud school district.  Wendy (English) worked with me in the middle school and Roger (physics) in the high school.  We go w-a-y back.  I've always made it a point to pass through Bluffton for a visit to catch up on their great life style, updated news about sons, Ben and Zach, and of course, granddaughter Samantha, Ben's daughter out in San Diego, CA.  We had an early dinner as they're leaving early

Wendy & Roger

tomorrow (I didn't ask how early) morning to join 130 or so others from their community; they'll travel in three buses to piers in Ft. Lauderdale. (I wonder if they know it's close to a seven hour ride). Their trip will last eleven days and hit at least five of those familiar islands you know about in the Caribbean.  Wendy and I had Pasta Giuseppe: Angel hair pasta with sauteed spinach, tomatoes, roasted red peppers, and pistachio nuts; all tossed with garlic and virgin olive oil.  I planned to eat half as I usually do and bring the other half home for tomorrow's lunch.  That didn't happen (again).  As you can tell by the description, it'll be easy to duplicate this dish back in my home away from home.  The luncheon menu, if you followed the link above, indicates that they also use pignoli or pine nuts.  I can see daughter, Marybeth, whipping this dish up in less than 10 minutes.  She's great at putting a meal on the table in no time.

And so, with another layover, another campground visited and added to my list of adventures, I will get ready to pack.  This RV resort will be highly recommended to any and all future visitors who are RVers.  Even though it's "off-season", the location, maintenance, rest rooms, office staff rate an excellent by this novice RVer.

A little bump in my road has occurred when I tried to run my generator.  Propane tank is full and switch turned on, but after many revs, it just doesn't kick in.  Thank goodness I don't need it as a power source when I'm in camp.  I run it periodically for maintenance purposes.  Fortunately, Monday, on my way south, just off I-95 there's a Cummins-Onan service center in Savannah, GA, where I'll stop for a checkup.  It'll put me behind in my anticipated arrival in Port Orange, but.....so what?  The beauty of it all is I have no deadlines to meet.  The unit is still under warranty and rather than tinker with it myself, I'll let the pros look at it.  After ten hours run-time, an oil change is needed.  Air filter and spark plug will be checked as well.  

See you in Port Orange, FL Monday evening.  To my NY readers: stay safe and warm and look at the upcoming blizzard as God's gift of a day to stay home.  Send me photos of what I'm missing so I can post them on my blog.  These were taken by my cousin Janice in Katonah for her FB page from your last storm that left 7".  This one is predicted to be 10-14":

 

Last Supper in NC

Finally!  An intelligent packaging idea.....or maybe we don't have it up north yet (or maybe I should go shopping more often).  Told the lady in Food Lion (there's always someone around in stores to help you down here in the south) I was  hesitant buying the package because I couldn't see the contents.  She agreed.  So with a blind leap of faith,  I lucked out and for my last supper tonight in NC, I cooked two breasts in order to have leftovers for another meal.  

The photo looks like you have to cut the packaging to use what you need; but no, there's six individually wrapped, air-tight sealed portions.  Great for one person--boneless, skinless, and no fat.  Perfection.

I marinated them in sesame ginger with mandarin orange juice, then cut them into strips to be sauteed in a little olive oil.  When cooked, I added tomato sauce, peas, onions, and basil and continued to cook the mixture a while longer.  When done, I served a portion on top of a bed of Jasmine rice.  The flavors didn't fight with each other and it was quite delicious.  It was too much to unpack, setup, cook, and clean up my grill for such a small piece.  The results were excellent.  The rice came out perfect with none sticking to the pot, the chicken was done perfectly and the marinade was barely noticed.  I doctored the sauce with salt, pepper, basil, and onion which enhanced the flavor of the entire dish.  I sprinkled a little Parmesan cheese but it wasn't necessary.

Yous may ask, "What's the big deal,  I cook all the time."  The big deal, my dear reader is, I don't cook--ever.  Two of my favorite dishes that I prepare are stuffed shells and a marinated London broil grilled to perfection. 

My Cooking Library.  I have a long way to go....but, except for the
books on birds, I plan to experiment with all of them.

And so another campground has been visited, enjoyed, and recommended.  Into my 36 year old Camping Log Book it goes.  Tomorrow, I hope to get an early start for the 5+ hour trip to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina where, on Saturday night, I will enjoy the company and dinner with dear friends Roger and Wendy Arnold.  It is at this point where all of my stops now (except for Key Largo, FL) will enable me to see friends/fellow retirees and relatives.  Till next time, take care and good night

Day 4 - Holly Ridge, NC

Lanier's Campground  1/21/2015 1/22/2015
1161 Spot Lane
Holly Ridge, NC 28445

Good morning.  As mentioned last night, I wanted to add more photos from yesterday's first impression shots.  Today, my last day here, I awoke to a low of 31° but know it'll climb to the upper 60's.  It's 66° as I write.  A tad better than home where it'll range from 25° to 37° (not to mention the 3-5" of snow that's due (THIS WILL BE A FAST MOVING SYSTEM WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SNOW AND ICE.) But I didn't say that (NWS did).  BTW, if you're ever typing a document or an email and want the degree symbol (°) to appear, hold down the ALT key while typing 0176 on the numeric keypad.  And while you're at it, repeat using different numbers following the zero for other symbols.  The complete chart can be found with this link.   This knowledge should help you sleep better tonight.  No need to thank me.

Sunsets are a minute or two longer each day and different for each location---as you already know.  Tonight, for me, it'll be 5:29pm

Standing in front of my RV I took 6 shots turning a bit for each:

 Many of the RVs look like

they're here for the long term.

This is the Lanier's home

Met the nice family next door in the huge fifth wheel.  Shana and husband have two children, two dogs and has her mother visiting.  They're leaving Friday as well. 

Frisky 8 month old Duke
with Emily.

Duke is very familiar with having
picture taken. Sits, poses, and
looks right at the camera.